


Secrets, Revealed.

by GalaxyKoi



Series: Iotath's Unrest [Non-Canon] Side Stories [2]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Iotath's Unrest
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Not canon to IU but not quite the AAF AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-03 16:04:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20269075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyKoi/pseuds/GalaxyKoi
Summary: On their way to the mountains, they take a pause to refuel the ship. During the night, Cynthia is restless, but Nur tries to help her out. Wall tries to be common sense. Paddy and Poth get to go on a little jog in the woods. Roth gets to chill on the ship and watch as hell breaks loose. The crew's biggest secret gets revealed to their captain, and she loses more than just her trust.





	Secrets, Revealed.

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to give a bit more credit to North than usual, mainly because she helped a lot with cleaning up this fanfic. Please tell her she's amazing by sending her an ask here: https://northern--song.tumblr.com/
> 
> \--
> 
> This fanfic was mostly written while in grid silence in Arizona. We did a whole lot of driving, and I knew that it would be the case well in advance. Shortly before that, though, Zyarch (aka the DM of the campaign) and I were scrolling through Tumblr and saw an image that inspired this prompt. I had other ideas for writing, but I loved this one so much that most of my time went to this one. I sent the first draft before boarding our plane home, and then when I landed, North had written like 50 or so comments and suggestions all over the fanfic. We ended up finishing and tweaking the fanfic for another week, and now we're here! I'm really proud of this fanfic, despite the typical "GalaxyKoi fanfic" tropes. 
> 
> This fanfic is not a part of the AAF AU, but it is not canon either. {Talking about canon makes me want to attempt to write a session. Iotath's Unrest: the novelization?}
> 
> As always, though, I have to thank the other players and the DM for letting me use their characters in this story!  
Paddy- RiahkHaladin {who probably heard me reading the fanfic at 7 AM, whoops} (https://www.twitch.tv/redriahk)  
Roth/Poth- LightningLord (https://www.twitch.tv/lightninglord_)  
Wall- ArkVeil (https://www.twitch.tv/arkveil7)  
The wonderful and majestic DM himself, who was not at home at all while the fanfic got tweaked and didn't have to hear my awful attempt at character voices while reading this to North at 7 AM- Zyarch (https://www.twitch.tv/completlyrandom)

Darkness filled the rooms of the ship as the night began to unravel events. The ship had landed in the middle of a meadow clearing, as they had to refuel the ship one more time earlier that day. The stars and moon illuminated the field, thin blades of grass and gentle flowers reflecting silver light. Beyond the clearing lay a thick forest, perfect for providing a natural veil for the ship. 

On the ship, Wall watched on the deck as a precautionary measure for any malevolent creatures. Paddy, Roth, and Poth rested from a long day. Meanwhile, Cynthia stayed awake, trying to think of minor details to add to her journal to exhaust herself enough to sleep. Ever since she had been cured, and especially after forgetting how she even fell asleep most days, insomnia had become her new plague. She had grown more worried about everyone else as well, hoping that staying awake could help if something decided to show itself. Even when she did try to sleep, she was terrified and almost enraged at herself an hour later. 

Nur, who had curled himself in a corner, opened his eyes to see Cynthia awake at her desk. He didn’t even hesitate to stand up and walk up to her, concerned about her well-being. 

“((Cynthia?))” Nur quietly spoke up in Celestial. “((Awe you okay?))”

“((I’m merely a bit restless, darling.))” Cynthia responded, her voice almost emotionless. “((I decided to write more until I exhausted enough to sleep, and I do want to spare the alcohol for the trip back.))”

Nur gave her a look of disappointment, but then looked down for a moment before staring at the captain again.

“((Cynthia, maybe we can take a wawk? it’s weawwy pwetty outside.))”

Cynthia hesitated on the suggestion for a moment. She did not want to deal with Wall. On the other hand, she also didn’t want to simply sit at her desk for hours trying to remember every single breath she took today. 

“((Okay. It’s better than nothing, I suppose. I’m not sure how easily I can get past Wall, though.))” She then paused for a moment and added bitterly, “((You know, even though I’m the captain and older than all of them, he doesn’t like me being awake late. Gods, he’s not Jinri.))”

Nur stayed quiet after Cynthia spoke, standing on all fours. He waited for Cynthia to drag her armor back on, and then he followed the paladin towards the deck.

A short conversation ensued between Wall and Cynthia, but only because Cynthia didn’t even give Wall to state his normal spiel that proved that he had common sense. At first, he made a statement that it was late, and then second, he advised Cynthia that it would not be safe going alone. She aggressively gestured towards Nur and then summoned her radiant wings to get off the ship. Nur scaled down the side of the ship like a spider, and then the two ventured towards the edge of the clearing.

A few minutes later, the two entered the forest, the canopy masking out the starlight. The ground, littered with small leaves and thick bushes, crunched beneath them. In response, the creatures of the wilderness chattered among themselves, eyes on the new visitors. 

-

The celestials wandered through the forest, trying to take the harder trails to avoid any humanoids that may also be with them. Their eyes glinted, their vision aided by their celestial heritage. The difficult terrain also allowed Cynthia a chance to try to exhaust herself. 

At some point, they entered a small clearing. They had gotten on the topic of the crew’s potential opinions of their captain, to which Cynthia expressed her concerns of not performing her job well. She mentioned her anguish that the crew saw her as weak, indecisive, and simple-minded. She brought up her apprehensions about their morale with the state of their captain, who had been infected by the Living Plague for a week and didn’t even speak about it to the crew, save for Paddy.  
“((Nur, I can’t tell what they’re thinking about. It concerns me greatly, and sometimes I wonder if I’ve broken their trust of me. I keep doubting myself too about it, wondering if I should try to repair what I’ve broken.))” Cynthia vented.

“((I think they’we just wowwied about you, Cynthia. I don’t bewieve it’s that they don’t twust you.))” Nur spoke. “((You’ve stawted to become an insomniac, and I think that you’we beginning to weawwy suffew fwom it.))”

“((I mean, I have been sleeping somehow, right? Sure, I simply don’t remember falling asleep a lot, but it’s not like I haven’t slept in three days and have horrid exhaustion.))”

Nur averted his gaze, grimacing.

“((... Right?))” Cynthia spoke again.

“((Weww, you have swept in the past thwee days, and a few mowe ovew the past week, but I wouwdn’t weawwy caww some of those ‘sweeping’...))”

“((Okay, sure, I remember one time when we got into a fight and I got knocked out, but you said that there were ‘some’ instead of one, darling.))”

In that moment, Nur’s eyes widened due to the revelation that she didn’t know by that point. He had assumed Paddy had brought it up with her, but maybe he didn’t want her to know? Why would he not tell her? He had to tell Cynthia the truth.

“((The cwew’s been hiding things fwom you, Cynthia.))” 

“((Like _ what? _))” Cynthia’s voice raised, a hint of seething rage hiding behind her teeth. 

Nur realized too late that he maybe _ shouldn’t _ have told Cynthia about it, knowing she would be too stubborn for him to leave it at that. He wanted to do his best to sugarcoat it, but he didn’t do too well.

“((I find you unconscious in fwont of Wall often, and he usuawwy cawws me to gwab you and puww you into bed. He puts you to sweep somehow? Sometimes the othews awe thewe too? I think sometimes you simpwy get so stwessed that you faint as weww.))”

“((I apologize, darling, what the fuck do you mean by I’m unconscious by Wall? How so?))”

“((... Usuawwy he ow poth’s bwothew knocks you enough on the head that you faww asweep.))”

“((And you tell me this _ now _!?))”

“((I thought the othews towd you!))” Nur squeaked. “((They kept doing this, and you said nothing, so I thought you had asked them to do this fow youwsewf.))”

“((Ha! No, I would never act that weak in front of them. I already have been weak in front of them countless times. Sune... They’ve-))”

Cynthia’s face slowly transformed into a scowl as she looked up towards the canopy and then to the eastern depths of the woods. She then turned back to Nur and placed her hands sharply on Nur’s shoulders. Her words burned through gritted teeth. 

“((What fucking else have they been doing? Do you know how terrifying it is to not know how you fell asleep for days at a time? To hope that you can redeem yourself and try to protect your crew from whatever hurt you, only to realize from your talking steed that it’s your own crew hurting you?))”

“((That’s weawwy it. Othew times you dwink a wot and then get sweepy vewy quick.))”

“((Nur, do you swear that on Sune?))”

“((Yes, but again, I think they’we just wowwied about youw wewwbeing-))”

“((Bullshit.))” Cynthia hissed.

Nur intended to try and calm her down, but suddenly, the two of them paused for a moment as they heard a loud cracking noise nearby. After a quick glance around, neither of them could see anything in the darkness. Unknown to them, their perceptions completely failed. Both of them remained alert, looking in the direction of the original sound. The ambient sound went quieter as the smaller creatures fled the scene, and Nur jumped to guard Cynthia from the front.

((_ I believe someone’s found us, darling _.)) Cynthia telepathically communed to Nur. She quietly drew her sword from her back, and the paladin prepared to strike whatever came out of those woods- friend or foe. She also pulled out her shield for safe measure.

((_ Shwould we wun? _))

((_ Let us wait. I’d rather them target us so we know what’s out there. _))

((_ Youw suwe? _))

((_ As much as I’m not fond of my crew right now for what they’ve done, it’s still my duty to protect them. If I flee, then I’ll be bringing this danger to them and the ship. _))

Their time to flee ended quickly, and they heard a loud noise coming towards the east. Both of them stared towards the noise in that direction, sure that their threat hid in that direction. 

Unfortunately for them, their threat hid all around them, and one particular figure waited until the cracking sound to sneak right behind them and deal the first hit. A shortsword pierced between the chest plate and the shoulder plate of Cynthia’s armor, causing a decent blow to Cynthia. Quickly, the rogue attempted to stab again into the weak point of Cynthia’s armor with a dagger, but it missed.

Feeling someone stab her pretty good, Cynthia turned around to see the assailant, and without hesitation, she attacked back. Calling on an emergency source of divine power, her sword glowed in golden radiance as she slashed a deep wound into the attacker’s neck. A moment later, Nur turned behind her and sealed the human rogue’s fate. Nur bit deeply into the neck and ripped out blood and muscle. The human who attacked them gasped once and then fell to the floor. Death met him before he even hit the ground.

Cynthia relaxed for a moment from a slight pause, but then she heard something breeze past her ear. Almost at the same time, another arrow chinked off of her armor from another direction. On the bright side, being tensed up again from the two arrows allowed her to dodge the second rogue who had charged in.

Cynthia heard something flutter well above her in the trees, and then she heard the sound of an owl. She glanced up to make sure it wasn’t another attack, but she saw, thankfully, an owl. She could have sworn that the owl was familiar, somehow.

She snapped back into battle as she felt something awful pierce through her armor and right into her side, dealing a bit more damage. She stumbled a bit as if to absorb the damage, and then one more arrow deflected off of her shield.

((_ There’s a few of them. Nur, if you can, pick off any weaker ones that might come by. _))

((_ Awe youw okay? _))

((_ Yes, I’m fine. I’ll need to drain most of my healing magic already though. _))

A bandit charged into the mini-clearing, switching from a bow to a scimitar. Cynthia expected an attack from the bandit, so she turned towards them, but instead... nothing. Out of weakness, she was unable to keep up with the directions that which the arrows came, and so another one managed to strike her on the leg. 

She managed to get the chance to channel energy to heal herself, but she realized that even with all of her main healing, some of the wounds continued to bleed. She kept the arrows in, knowing that removing them would make the bleeding worse. She had to consider her options then, unsure if there were more that simply had not arrived yet. What brought them there? How did they find her?

A yell came out from the other rogue as he madly struck at Cynthia. With so many enemies around, she could barely keep up with the situation, and she had to absorb more damage, this time on the side again. Yet again, a dagger swung, but it slid off the armor.

Two more arrows breezed by as Nur attempted to deal with the bandit charging at her. With a quick reaction, the bandit dodged out of the way.

Yet another arrow reflected off of Cynthia’s armor as the bandit swung the scimitar, but the blade simply hit the shield. 

Cynthia, getting tired of this, decided to help Nur clear out the small fry, wanting to be able to focus on one enemy. She called onto her divine power again and pierced the bandit in his lung, also ending his life. She then tried to go back to the rogue, but the rogue yet again dodged.

The cycle continued as another bandit charged in from the trees, switching from a light crossbow to another scimitar. Cynthia turned towards the new foe, and then got stabbed in the back by the rogue. Nur managed to bite the newer bandit, leaving them severely wounded. 

Two more arrows breezed past, and Cynthia began to wonder if the arrows shot by the invisible crossbows had only left the bow to be distractions and not to hit her. On the other hand, she realized that no matter if the arrows missed or not, she wouldn’t be able to out-heal the significant damage she took. She could feel her body beginning to give in to the wounds, and she knew that she had to act desperately to take care of her main issue. 

She charged most of her remaining power into her sword, radiance intensely beaming from her sword as she put all of her strength into two messy blows at the rogue. They managed to stay standing during the first hit, but the second hit made them fall to the ground.

The bandit tried to strike at the lizard, managing to leave a deep mark on Nur. To the bandit’s misfortune, Nur reacted by striking back at the bandit, finishing him off.

A loud snap of a bowstring could be heard close by, revealing one of the remaining bandits. Cynthia, forgetting that she could have had a chance to heal, rushed at the unlucky bandit and guided him to the same fate as his malevolent friends: death by a woman’s blade. 

Cynthia joined Nur on rushing towards the supposedly final one, who had already been able to attempt biting the bandit. The bandit’s armor would be enough to spare him from Nur’s teeth, for now. 

The bandit’s face carried terror as he backed a few feet, attempting to keep some distance between him and the charging death-bringers. As a last effort from the bandit, he loaded his crossbow, and his hands resisted the urge to shake for one more moment. Then, with one finger, he pulled the trigger of the crossbow. The arrow zoomed past Nur with a sharp whistle and calculated fury, and then it continued towards its target within fractions of a second.

The arrow hit deep.

—

Nur watched as an arrow missed his large form and drove right into Cynthia’s chest, and he realized with terror that it made Cynthia unable to continue. She gasped for a moment, and then she fell forward, unconscious. He confirmed this with the lack of response from Cynthia through telepathy.

He made a screech noise, enough to startle the bandit. Nur, to avenge his fallen charge, lashed out at the bandit, doing calamitous damage and leaving the bandit barely alive. 

“((You will not be welcomed kindly in the astral plane.))” Nur declared in Celestial, his words unnervingly clear. As the bandit made one last attempt, Nur slapped the bow away with a tail spin. To end it all, Nur pierced his teeth into the bandit, and then left the bandit to die as he rushed over to Cynthia.

Nur gently used his hands to turn Cynthia onto her side, ensuring that Cynthia wouldn’t choke on her own blood. He panicked, wondering if Cynthia had finally met her fate. Luckily, though, she still breathed, and she was going to be fine, but she had obviously taken severe damage yet again. This wasn’t new to Nur, yes, but it frightened him every single time. If she had died, this whole thing could have been on his own name, as he had suggested to leave the ship in the first place. 

He quickly checked the nearby area for more intruders, but it appeared that no more invaders remained. Yet, with this much blood around them, he knew the wilder animals that lived out there may be heading towards this direction, and he doubted that he could handle the entire wilderness. 

He decided to wait a few minutes, trying to figure out an ideal way to carry Cynthia all of the way back to the ship. He knew he’d have to pause every so often to place her down, as her armor added a lot of weight to her. He had nothing to keep her strapped onto his back, too, so he would have to settle with the slower travel time.

He remembered Cynthia looking up at an owl earlier in the battle, and he wondered if she had seen Wall’s owl familiar. ((_ If that was Wall’s owl, then we wouwd be abwe to wait hewe fow hewp. But how wong wewe we wawking fow? It had to have been awmost hawf an houw. _))

He decided that waiting wasn’t an option he had. He picked up Cynthia with delicate care, and then limped away from the brutal scene.

—

Back on the ship, Wall watched as his owl came back to him wild in its facial expressions. 

_ Sir 2nd-Lieutenant Unit 0421, there appears to have been a significant problem. I rushed to you as soon as I could. _The familiar spoke to its owner.

_ Could you give me a detailed report, my owl? _Wall answered back in silence.

_ Of course! It appears Nur and Cynthia ran into six unknown humanoids, all with bad intentions. I suggest an immediate departure. _

Wall was not surprised, but he had concerns about his captain. He gave a nod to his familiar, but he realized that leaving without a warning would leave the ship exposed.

He urgently moved towards the communications relay, and then considered his choices. Thanks to being a warforged, he made a decision within fractions of a second. He needed a tracker and a healer, and although Poth could satisfy both needs, he did not want to send Poth alone. Additionally, Paddy could also help take care of Cynthia.

He pressed two buttons on the small dashboard, and then spoke, “Poth Philious and Paddy McLoughlin, please report to the deck immediately.”

-

In separate rooms, the two that were mentioned awoke with a startled expression, caught off-guard by the loud voice of Wall echoing nearby. They both had the same questions, almost as if their minds synchronized. Why did Roth not get called up, and more importantly, _ why not Cynthia _?

The two of them quickly geared up for whatever was happening on deck, but they made two important notes: Roth slept peacefully in his room, and Cynthia was not in her room.

They met at the stairwell, Poth waiting for Paddy to join him. Both were afraid of the potential reasons Wall had summoned them to the deck, and they started trying to come up with the more hopeful theories.

“Mom probably got knocked out by Wall again.” Poth began to say with an optimistic chuckle. “I don’t think she’s figured this out yet.”

“It’s possible, but Wall usually doesn’t have that much urgency in his tone when that happens. Plus, he can carry Cynthia by himself easily, so I have a bad feeling that it's a bit more than that...”

They entered the deck as Paddy finished his speculation, and the two of them quickly realized that Cynthia had possibly left the ship with Nur. Disaster had not struck the deck either, such as invaders or a fire, that would prompt Wall to alert the others.

“I assume you have already pieced together the situation, captain.” Wall spoke up as they walked closer to the fighter, his owl perched on his shoulder.

“Not to disappoint or anything, but we’re not sure why Cynthia or Nur aren’t anywhere to be seen.” Paddy spoke.

“Captain Cynthia and Nur left approximately half of an hour ago, and they have since run into an issue that I need you to investigate with haste.”

“She’s in trouble, isn’t she?”

“Yes.” Wall answered grimly, and then added, “My owl will be able to give you a location, so I advise that you follow the owl to the last seen location. It may be possible that you will have to track Cynthia and Nur if they have moved from that point.”

“Lead the way, then.”

“Of course.”

Wall pointed at the two humanoids in front of him, and then he pointed towards the east. The owl hovered towards a tree in that direction; the ranger and artificer followed.

—

Nur dragged himself towards a smooth, flat rock, and he nearly flopped onto it, but he made sure to avoid getting Cynthia hurt in the process. He had tried to follow his way back to the ship, but he didn’t remember anything about this terrain. Exhaustion loomed over him, and weakness tempted him to give up. On the way, alone, he had to fend off two wolves; both of them managed to wound him.

Placing her down for moments to fend off creatures became more of a horror show over time, having to guard Cynthia from the wildlife. His limping became more pronounced, and he felt as if another hit would be enough to send him back to the celestial plane.

The paladin did not look any better, but at least her condition had not worsened. 

The night sky and stars revealed themselves in the small clearing Nur lay, and he could feel some security in the moonlight.

Nur dragged Cynthia by his side, and then he curled around her, trying to keep her safe as best as he could. He wasn’t going to let her go to the astral plane that easily. He kept his eyes open, but he decided to stay there for a bit, hoping that Cynthia would become conscious again soon. It had been roughly an hour and a half since Nur had begun to try to find the ship again, and he grew worried that they had begun to run out of luck. 

He heard an owl’s hoot somewhere above him, and then he saw the bird swoop down from the trees. He made a warning squeak to try to scare the owl away from Cynthia, but instead, it perched in front of them, unfazed by his warnings.

It was Wall’s owl. 

Nur’s tail swished in delight, and then he made a thankful squeak to the owl.

The owl hooted back with a happy tone, and then it turned towards the southwest before flying off again.

Nur knew it would be fine to stay there, but he kept incredibly defensive. The feathers along his jawline flared up as a warning to anything that may decide to hurt them, well aware that he would barely be able to fight back.

Minutes passed, but eventually, something stepped into the clearing. Nur stood up and made a series of warning screeches in case of another monster, but he quieted as he saw three familiar faces approach them.

He backed down as the two humanoids and the owl got close, and then he withdrew from Cynthia to let them see her.

Poth and Paddy exchanged one quick glance and a few words before Poth rushed over to Nur, and Paddy made sure Cynthia still had a pulse.

Nur had no clue what Poth said, but Poth’s tone hinted at being alarmed before he began to magically close most of Nur’s wounds. After that, Poth’s tone suggested major praise to Nur as the ranger spoke, to which Nur wagged his tail happily in response. Poth held up his hand, as if saying to wait, and then reached into his backpack for some dried meat. Nur happily accepted the offer, exhausted from escaping the forest and dragging Cynthia with his teeth.

Nur glanced over to see Paddy knelt next to Cynthia, checking for a pulse. He spoke something to Poth, and then Poth replied back in an optimistic tone. To Nur’s worry, Paddy decided to heal Cynthia, something he usually didn’t do to ensure the captain managed to get at least some sleep. 

—

Cynthia could feel her senses sharply returning to her for a moment, surprised to even feel anything again. She could feel a familiar hand pressed onto the side of her neck, but she mainly got hit by a huge wave of pain overpowering her, making it unbearable to even attempt to sit up. Despite that, relief washed over her as she opened her eyes to see jade eyes and red hair.

She smiled weakly at him, her golden eyes meeting his for a brief moment before she remembered the severity of her own wounds. She tried to heal herself with her remaining magic, but it barely affected her injuries.

After that, she tried to slowly sit up, but her body attempted to refuse movement, and she wasn’t even able to lift her head. She pressed her hands against the rock to try to support herself in a second attempt, but Paddy instantly stopped her from hurting herself. 

“Cynthia, please don’t overwhelm yourself. We need to get you back to the ship.” Paddy spoke quietly and gently. “And it’s too dangerous to stay here much longer.”

Cynthia _ yearned _ to be back on the ship, preferably wrapped in Paddy’s arms as he carried her to her room. His words called out to her and tempted her into finally admit her devastating ailments. His tone in these situations tended to be more of disappointment, while Cynthia felt as if he tried to calm her. 

“...Wait.” Cynthia muttered quietly, and then remembered what Nur had told her earlier. The blood loss had definitely gotten to her, and she could barely think straight (which she can’t do in the first place!!). Her emotions switched quickly, and she pulled what little strength she had left. A madness known as sheer will had taken over. She suddenly stood up from the ground, and then staggered to face Poth with a weak rage in her eyes.

“You, Roth, and Wall... I-I know what you-you’ve done-“

And with those words, Cynthia could feel the world fight against her, and she quickly lost the adrenaline to stay strong as she crumbled onto the grass. She stopped talking as she had to fight for consciousness, coughing up blood; it was not a battle she would win. Her breathing was labored and weakening, and her other senses started to numb as well. Slowly, she curled into a ball, not sure what to do. The night became darker, and nothingness welcomed her.

—

_ Cynthia! _

Nur felt powerless in his mortal form as he watched the Aasimar stand up, walk over to Poth, say something, and then almost instantly sink back into unconsciousness. He watched as the two humanoids scrambled to aid their captain. The celestial wanted to rush over to be by his charge’s side again, but he didn’t want to interfere with the artificer, who undertook the task to stabilize her. Meanwhile, Poth stood over the other two, keeping an eye out for any immediate danger.

After a few moments, Paddy paused and stood still, sighing with relief as he looked up at Poth. While Nur could not understand them, the ranger and artificer shared a few words.

“She’ll be okay.” Paddy assured Poth in Common, “She’s not doing great, though, and it’ll probably be a while before she’ll be able to wake up again.”

“Well, we should probably head back anyway. Nur should be able to carry Cynthia back as well.”

“Okay, let me talk to Nur, then. I think the lady taught me a few words to at least help us a bit.”

Paddy turned towards the celestial lizard, and then spoke in a broken Celestial, “Nur, you carry Cynthia?”

Nur gave a nod in affirmation, and then walked back to Cynthia, picking up the armored figure.

The small party of five departed from the smooth rock’s clearing, and they followed the owl who guided them home. 

-

Nothing happened on the way back, and it was a blessing that they had managed to avoid more trouble. The owl did a spectacular job of relocating the ship and flew with the others, occasionally pausing on the branches to wait for the others to catch up. Nur carried Cynthia similar to a mother cat carrying a kitten, and watched for anything that might try to harm them. 

They spotted the meadow clearing in the distance, and with excitement, the crew rushed towards the exit. They were exhausted, but they were glad to see the _ Grey Rat _ again. Slivers of sunrise hid beyond the horizon as they felt the open air and sky above them. 

Wall and Roth patiently waited for them on the ship, and they started to open the entry ramp. Unlike the human and half-elf, Nur didn’t even wait for the entry ramp. He used his abilities as a lizard to climb up the side of the ship and then rush past the warlock and fighter, and the celestial scurried to the rooms below deck.

—

“Welcome back, Captain McLoughlin.” Wall spoke as his owl flew over to him, perching on his shoulder again. 

“Yes, I’m glad to be back.” Paddy replied to the Second Lieutenant. “I assume you’re fine watching the ship until the debrief?”

“Of course, Captain.” 

“Great. I’m going to go check on Cynthia once more and then sleep. Poth, you should sleep, too.” Paddy announced as he headed towards the doors and to the stairwell. 

Wall looked at the two brothers, expecting them to follow Paddy soon. To his surprise, Poth glanced at the other two and then said, “Hey, I don’t think tomorrow’s going to be a good day.”

“That’s threatening. What are you planning, Poth?” Roth replied, trying to lighten Poth’s mood. 

The young ranger shook his head and spoke, “I think Nur told mom about the- you know, the times where we had to knock Cynthia out. She threatened you and I before she...” Poth couldn’t finish his words, letting them end there. 

“Oh.” Roth spoke, “So, in other words, the three of us are about to have to explain all of that when she wakes up?”

“Yes. And I’m not doing it, since _ you _ started it.”

Wall intervened into the conversation, “I presume when she wakes up, I should be able to remind her that we are allowed to do such actions according to-“

“That’s not the issue. The issue was that we kept doing this and never told her.” Poth replied to Wall. “Anyway, I’m tired, so I’m gonna go to sleep now.”

Poth quickly rushed to the doors to catch up with Paddy. Roth decided to join Poth, leaving Wall alone yet again.

— 

Nur had settled into the room for a few minutes, Cynthia already placed in her hammock. He didn’t have the delicate fingers needed to take off her armor, so he had to keep the paladin in it until someone took it off or Cynthia woke up. Checking on Cynthia again, he didn’t think that she was going to become conscious again for a while, even with Cynthia’s willpower. 

Nur scrambled to make sure she would be fine when she woke up, but he still felt irritated at himself for being almost useless in the situation. After all, he had been the one to suggest the thing that nearly got them killed. Then he went on to tell Cynthia the blunt truth about what had happened to her thanks to her own crew. 

Nur heard the door open, and he was relieved when Paddy walked into the room. He entered alone this time, which had become rather common, but Paddy’s gait and his body language was less peppier than normal. It was rather late in the night to be awake, but the celestial noticed a look in the artificer’s eyes that wasn’t being tired. Was it annoyance, or was it concern?

— 

“Cynthia, you keep scaring me like this.”

Paddy had a habit of thinking out loud, but he doubted anyone in the room could even understand him anyway. He kept talking to himself, rambling on about how he had feared the worst and how she wouldn’t listen to him. In the midst of his rants, he caught himself walking around the room, but always keeping an eye on the paladin.

He remembered the brief moment where Cynthia had been conscious and the threat to Poth. It was strange to see her snap at someone- let alone her own crew. She looked enraged, sure, but he swore he could almost hear a bit of sorrow, as if she felt betrayed by the others. Additionally, she had overwhelmed herself only to scold him. What did she accomplish from that? Did it give her some satisfaction before she lost control of herself again? He tried to place himself in her perspective for a bit to make sense of it, but all he could possibly theorize was that delusions from her own critical state possessed her.

She looked so miserable in her bed. Her armor hid most of her wounds, but there were spots where he could clearly see her more grievous injuries. He wanted to help her, but he knew that if he tried to heal her with magic, she would wake up. If she woke up, a similar situation to earlier may happen. 

Instead, he did what he had after Hundelstone. Carefully, trying not to disturb her, he removed her armor. As he took off her helmet, her wavy bangs fell lower and covered her left eye, and her other part covered her right ear. Paddy realized the frightening amount of wounds she wore when he finally removed the rest of her armor, but he confidently assured himself that she would be fine. The captain would probably be unable to perform any duties tomorrow, but she wasn’t dead. He had to keep telling himself similar things. The captain and her steed had to struggle to live, but she’s been through worse and survived. 

He left the room for a moment to return with a bit of alcohol and bandage, the closest thing they had to first aid around the ship. The arrow shafts outlived their purpose, so he carefully removed them one by one. The alcohol was the best thing they had against infection, his main concern. The bandages would keep the wounds at least away from open air, and hopefully the pressure would help ease the blood loss. He did not have anything close to having Cynthia or Poth’s medical expertise, but he had been slowly taught basic first aid. 

As he finished, the moonlight faded and gave way to the warm light of sunrise. It was oddly serene on the ship, but he could at least hear some birds chirping far away. Nur had fallen asleep, and Paddy could guess that the two brothers slept as well. As for himself, he could feel exhaustion slowly climbing over him, threatening to quickly overwhelm him. 

He could not leave her alone. She _ needed _ him to stay next to her as she recovered from this disaster. Paddy held Cynthia’s right hand with tenderness, his pale hand contrasting hers, and he found himself slowly giving himself to sleep before his memory became hazy.

A few hours later, he heard a knock on the door. He realized that he woke up in a different spot than he last remembered, and he could feel smooth scales completely wrapping him. He didn’t have enough time to stand up or even open his eyes as the door creaked open. By the footsteps, he could tell that Wall had walked inside the room. Not wanting to embarrass himself in front of Wall, he climbed out of Nur’s curled form and stood up. 

“Oh, good morning, Captain Paddy.” Wall spoke with a hint of surprise.

“Morning.” Paddy responded. “How’s everything going?”

“The past five hours have been uneventful. Roth Philious woke up an hour ago and helped keep watch on the deck, which has improved security.” 

“Good.” Paddy glanced at Wall one more time before walking over to Cynthia, who remained asleep.

“How is the captain?” 

“Well, she’s not dead from blood loss. Can’t tell if she has regained consciousness, but she’s doing better.” Paddy answered.

They talked for a few more minutes, but Wall eventually left to go back onto the deck. Paddy, meanwhile, stayed in the captain’s room for a bit longer, hoping that Cynthia would wake up soon. Ultimately, impatience and hunger drove him out of the room again. He only left for as long as he needed to cook some breakfast and make some thick coffee. He also grabbed a glass of water for Cynthia, just in case. After he finished breakfast, he placed the glass of water on top of a desk drawer, waiting for Cynthia. He walked back to Cynthia’s bedside, and then slowly convinced himself to fall asleep next to her.

—

Cynthia felt strangely warm when she regained consciousness, and the world without her armor made her feel exposed to the air. Bandages coiled her body in multiple locations but mainly on her upper body. As she opened her eyes, she noticed her boyfriend next to her, asleep. She smiled at him, but didn’t have the heart to wake him up. Cynthia instead gave him a soft kiss on the forehead, and then began the normal ordeal of recollecting information.

This was the first time in a while that it had been easy to comprehend the previous night. She remembered staying up late to act as backup if Wall needed it, and then Nur asked if she wanted to go on a walk with him. He told her something, and then things went relatively hazy.

She remembered that there was a brief moment where she gained consciousness between that event and then. She remembered Paddy above her, and then she stood up. After that, it went hazy again, but she recalled slowly going back unconscious after collapsing onto the grass. Most of all, though, she remembered exactly _ what _ Nur told her. _ Right, the mutinies. _Cynthia bitterly mentioned to herself. She was still mad about it, and there existed a rift in her trust of the crew. 

Before she could do anything about it, Paddy woke up again and placed his right hand over her right hand. Cynthia tensed at first, but she eventually turned to face him. 

Despite being a woman of high charisma, she found herself at a loss for words as she stared into his eyes. She held back tears as their gazes met, reunited once again, and then she sank her head into the artificer’s chest. Paddy’s free hand wrapped around her in an effort to comfort her, and it did have an effect. The two of them didn’t move for a while, both overjoyed to see the other okay. Cynthia decided to let the other issues wait for a few hours. She had one person left on the ship that she still unconditionally loved, and she was with them.


End file.
